Parents fume as black and white grade R children are 'separated' in North West classroom

The year is 2019. Date is 9th of January, This report is happening in real time in an African Country.

The mother of a grade R learner from Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke in the North West (South Afria) is fuming after a picture showed her child and three other black children sitting separately from the white children in their class.

The picture was shared on the school's WhatsApp group by the children's class teacher.

"This was meant to be an exciting day for me but it's not," said the parent.

The mother, who is not being named to protect the identity of her child, said that her child's first day in grade R had initially started off smoothly.

She and other parents dropped their children off and were asked to leave the school premises.

At 9am, they received an update from the children's teacher on how their day was going via the WhatsApp group.

The picture showed the 18 white learners in the classroom all occupying a single large desk in the middle of the classroom, while the four black children in the class occupied one desk in a corner at the far end of the classroom.

"All I saw was messages from the white parents saying 'dankie, dankie' ['thank you, thank you' on the WhatsApp group] but no one was saying anything about the separation of the learners," said the fuming mother.

She said after discussing this with another parent outside of the WhatsApp group, that parent contacted the school principal to ask about the seating arrangements

The principal said she was not aware of the situation. The school is being contacted and this article will be updated once its response is obtained.

Public schools around the country opened on January 9 2018. While many of the children were very excited for their first day at school, some could not hold back the tears.

Asked how the situation made her feel, the frustrated mother said she hoped her five-year-old child was still too young to have noticed what was happening.

"But I am pissed off," said the mother, who said she was not sure what further steps to take.

Meanwhile, the picture has since gone viral on social media.

Among those who voiced their concerns was student activist Mcebo Dlamini.

"What is most provoking about this image is not that black kids are ostracized from white kids, that is common in our supposedly post-apartheid Africa. Rather what becomes painful is that there are black people who still insist that racism has ended and who think that blacks and whites can have peaceful relations that do not have undertones of racism," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"This is impossible so long as white people have power, what therefore is needed is to change the existing power dynamics such that black people can have dignity. You can take your kids to the whitest schools in the country but so long as the black majority is poor, your kids will always be reminded that they are black and therefore inferior. Your money can't buy you out of this anti-black world. It is only when the black collective is free that we can begin reclaiming our rightful place in our land of birth."

The picture is currently trending across Africa after A Kenyan Blogger and activist Lord Abraham Mutai shared it on his twitter Platform @ItsMutai. He simply said "2019 In South Africa" and comments that followed from angry Kenyans who could not understand how the school is even still operational.

The school and North West education department have been approached for comment.

Abraham

Senior Blogger, Digital Communications expert, Social media consultant and Strategist. Opinionated - Delivering stories like my life depended on it, because - You are either the Source or the Target. Do you have any tips, stories, corruption related stories, exposes or any pressing matter you want to publish? contact the editor at info@Kenyan-herald.com or 4kiplangat@gmail.com or text/whatsapp at +254706255971